Kampala youth request for machinery for YLP projects

The youth argue that 10 are difficult to control, but five to seven members can be manageable, the leaders said during a meeting with Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development, Janet Mukwaya

DEVELOPMENT

Youth leaders in Kampala have asked government to reduce the number of members of the youth groups who apply for Youth Livelihood Programme(YLP) funds from 10 to about seven members.

The youth argue that 10 are difficult to control, but five to seven members can be manageable, the leaders said during a meeting with Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development, Janet Mukwaya at the Kampala Central Division head offices.

The youth outcry comes after Mukwaya inspected the Youth Livelihood Programme and found that most of the members had defected from their group leaving only two to three active members.

“We were 11 members and were given sh7m to start up a soap making project, when I made the first soap supply, and gave to the members to distribute but they never returned,” Penniah Nakandde, the chairperson of Kisenyi II Lubiri Triangle Youth Soap Making project.

Although Nakandde’s project was given sh7m out of what they group asked for (sh14m) she has managed to sustain the project with only three other members.

Nakandde is not alone, other groups that Mukwaya inspected last week were said to be have less members than the original ones who registered for the money.

Mukwaya noted that if there are few members in a group, who are active, and are still running the programme, then they can be given more funding to grow.

The youth recommended that they be given more funding to purchase modern machinery so that they can increase production to meet the market demand.

They also asked government not to should restrict them on the areas they resident and the location of the business.

The youth leader Ivan Asaba presenting the recommendations on behalf of the youth said the programme design restricted them on areas of location and business operation.

Mukwaya in her response told the youth that given the nature of Kampala Metropolitan, with a working population higher then those who reside in the city, the design will be changed.

On the number of member youths, she said government has already considered reducing on the numbers.

Central division Mayor Charles Sserunjogi warned youth against disappearing with funds saying that government will lose trust in them.

Other leaders who attended the meeting were RCC Kampala Central Hawa Ndegge and KCCA officials from the gender directorate